The Gold Standard

"The first step in cutting off the addictive flow of foreign central-bank capital to Washington is an American commitment to a dollar convertible to gold on a date certain. The second step is allowing the market, in the run-up to that date, to find and fix a dollar price of gold that would encourage other nations to replace dollar reserves with gold holdings as their new monetary base, whether or not they choose initially to join the new international gold standard."

"These steps alone would put an end to the U.S.'s ability to run painless budget deficits financed by foreign central banks. But we should also provide an insurance policy against the tendency of political elites to fool around with our money. Legislation restoring dollar-gold convertibility should be accompanied by passage of aconstitutional amendment guaranteeing the American people a right to conduct their economic affairs in gold, regardless of the future status of gold as the official money of the United States."

(Sean Fieler and Jeffrey Bell, "The Gold Standard: The Case for Another Look", Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2010)